Restore Northlander, province urged

The last Northlander train left The Station in North Bay Sept. 28, 2012. As Ontario Northland Transportation Commission workers, union representatives, elected officials and residents gathered in protest, the train departed for the last time on its way to Cochrane. Nugget file photo

Unions representing workers at the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission are calling on the province to restore passenger rail service in Northern Ontario.

“I ask that Mr. (Doug) Ford keep his promise to Northerners and that the return of the Northlander be part of your 2019 budget,” says Andy Mitchell, president of the ONTC’s General Chairpersons’ Association, in a written submission to the province.

Mitchell, who’s also president of Unifor Local 103, was slated to present the submission to Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli, Ontario’s finance minister, during a pre-budget consultation in the city Friday.

The session, however, was cancelled due weather that delayed Fedeli’s flight from Thunder Bay, where consultations were held Thursday. And Mitchell, along with others, ended up providing Fedeli’s office with a written copy.

“We believe the federal government also has a responsibility to provide passenger service between Cochrane and Moosonee – where there are no other forms of ground transportation – and providing a link to the world to our Indigenous communities,” says Mitchell in his submission. “The province, then, can shift its focus to return our rail passenger service between Toronto and Cochrane, as sharing these responsibilities only makes economic and realistic sense, while allowing a seamless connection for all.”

The Progressive Conservative promised during the latest provincial election to restore passenger rail services, cancelled in 2012 by the Liberals, in northeastern Ontario. And Fedeli has said it’s one of his priorities for the North,although it won’t happen overnight.

He has said the process would require rebuilding from the ground up and that environmental assessment work would be required, along with the purchase and upgrading of cars and equipment.

The General Chairpersons’ Association submission suggests investing in passenger rail services makes strong economic sense by creating and supporting jobs and providing opportunities to boost travel and tourism. The group also says passenger rail would remove cars from roads, resulting in savings in maintenance costs, reducing carbon emissions and easing traffic congestion.

“It is clear that the previous Ontario government’s hasty and ill-informed decision to cancel the Northlander line in 2012 not only hurt workers by eliminating employment, but impeded economic development in the region,” states the submission, which suggests the move also further reduced transportation services for residents in more remote and under-serviced Northern communities.

The group also is calling on the province to take a hard look at transferring oversight of the ONTC to the Ministry of Transportation rather than that of the Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines. In addition, the union says the ONTC should still be a development tool for Northern Ontario, creating links and opening up the province for business.

“This is also true for the Ring of Fire,” says Mitchell. “The ONTC should play a major role in the planning and using their expertise to facilitate the transportation of people and goods thorough some of the harshest terrain in Ontario.”

He says the Crown agency also is ideally situated to ensure multi-generational growth in mining.

“With this, we urge the government to promote and encourage that Timmins becomes the ferrochrome smelter site,” he says.